Entries not meeting submission requirements as above will not be eligible.

Writers must be individual financial members of the SA Writers Centre.

Manuscripts must be submitted during the four week period. No early or late entries will be accepted.

You can only submit one manuscript (or version of) during the submission period.

During the submission period no individual writers may contact the SA Writers Centre, the Publisher or Hachette Australia to seek information about the progress of their submission.

Manuscripts submitted for consideration in the SAHMP must be:

complete

not a first draft (please edit thoroughly)

fiction, non fiction or young adult fiction (sorry no poetry, children’s books or other are eligible).

Selection of the manuscript will be at the discretion of the Publisher and no discussion shall be entered into by the unsuccessful applicants.

Selection of a manuscript for the SAHMP is not a guarantee of publication.

Hachette reserves the right to consider the selected manuscript for publication within twelve weeks of delivery of a new draft of the manuscript, but gives no guarantee of publication.

The work must not be previously published in any format.

The work must not be under consideration by another publisher.

Writers who are not selected for a mentorship are eligible to resubmit the same work in following years.

All submissions must be submitted electronically.

The form of the mentorship:

The Publisher will work with the selected writer.

The exact form of the mentorship will vary according to the needs of the writer and the manuscript, but will include structural notes provided by the Publisher and telephone or Skype calls as appropriate to a maximum of five phone calls, as well as correspondence by email.

The mentorship will conclude either when the writer feels that they do not need further assistance or the Publisher feels that they are unable to be of further assistance, with either party to be advised in writing of the end of the mentorship.

The Publisher will not be available to give advice to the selected writer after the conclusion of the mentorship, unless so agreed between the Publisher and the writer.

The Publisher will not discuss the content of the mentorship with anyone other than the selected writer.

About Sophie:Sophie Hamley has worked in the print and online publishing industries as a bookseller, editor, writer, content producer, web and interactive TV producer. She was a literary agent from 2006 until late 2014, during which time she was President of the Australian Literary Agents’ Association and a member of the Book Industry Collaborative Council. She now works as a publisher with her wonderful colleagues at Hachette Australia.

After the success of last year’s Adelaide Pitch Conference – where out of the 43 attendees, 27 people were asked by major Australian publishers to submit their manuscript (most to more than one publisher) – we will be running it again towards the end of 2016.But don’t leave it until the last minute – begin your preparation now! Below you will find workshops that will help you perfect your manuscript so it can be at its best when the time comes.If you would like to be notified of details when released, please sign up here: Pitch Conference. [EVENT_ESPRESSO_CATEGORY event_category_id="pitch-conference-prep-1459914048"]

Mentorship Application Form

You will also need to identify at least one (maximum of three) goals for your mentorship and agree to the full terms and conditions.

Process

SA Writers Centre will connect you with a mentor with four weeks of application. Mentorship fees must be paid in advance in full to the Centre.

What to expect

Mentorship hours are billed for actual time spent, in 15 minute (minimum) increments. This includes all contact with the mentee including phone/Skype/IM conversations, emails, reading and feedback time and face to face meetings.Note this means that if you send four emails to your mentor, that will equate to one hour of mentorship time.The mentor and mentee will develop a shared timetable and plan, including identified goals, and will keep a weekly record that tracks progress towards goals and time spent by the mentor.Any questions or difficulties will be resolved by the SA Writers Centre.

Rates

Mentorships are offered in five hour blocks.5 hours $55010 hours $88020 hours $1650You can add additional blocks upon completion of initial blocks if you and your mentor agree that this would be beneficial for your work.[gravityform id="15" title="true" description="true"]

#Radelaide: Stories from Adelaide High

In the middle of this year SA Writers Centre launched their Artists in Schools project with Adelaide High School [AHS].

An anthology called #Radelaide: Stories from Adelaide High – and the fruition of this project – is being launched on Friday 28 November at the SA Writers Centre.

The Writing Places Project (as it is officially known) is a collaboration between the SA Writers Centre and Adelaide High School and two artists in residence – Angela Kingston, an internationally published author and creative writing teacher, and Connor Tomas O’Brien, a young creative writer and publisher, and nationally recognised entrepreneur in the digital writing and publishing sector. Poet, Amelia Walker, and young editors/ writers, Simon Collinson and Rose Hartley, also delivered sessions to the students as part of the project.

SAWC placed the writer in residence at AHS for two terms to deliver a creative writing project. Students and teachers were immersed in innovative methods of creative writing and craft development, were part of an intensive process of reviewing, drafting and editing, and learnt online publication technologies and digital distribution strategies. Over the two terms, a class of Year 9 students wrote, edited, designed and published an anthology of short works titled #Radelaide.

Apart from these class-based lessons, the writer in residence made themselves available to teachers and students wanting individual extension in writing. SAWC continually sees examples of students who are hungry for this extension, but have nowhere to go in most schools. Students interested in other creative arts often have studios, dance facilities, music rooms etc, but young writers also need creative spaces, beyond the restrictions of the ‘library’ space, where writers can collaborate, and publication opportunities developed, for example through an annual anthology, a regular newspaper, ongoing writers groups etc. The writer helped to establish this space at AHS, and help to develop a real and virtual ‘writers wall’ to showcase writing, promote publishing opportunities etc.

‘I’ve always loved writing stories, and having an actual author help me develop and publish my work was something really special, a childhood dream come true. Even better, we could write on any topic, as long as our stories had an Adelaide connection to fit the anthology’s theme. The possibilities were infinite!

In the final weeks, Angela gave us helpful information about competitions and publishing opportunities, and we had great guest presenters: Simon Collinson and Connor Tomas O’Brien (digital and online publishing), and Amelia Walker (performing your writing). As I write this I’m looking forward to our launch at the SA Writers Centre, when I finally get to see my story in a book! That’s something that doesn’t happen every day, and I am thankful for it,’ said participating student Chelsea Holt (this is an excerpt taken from #Radelaide: Stories from Adelaide High).

‘It’s a pleasure to show young people that language can be playful and fun, and to help them become stronger, more confident writers. The students embraced this opportunity with gusto, and it shows in the quality of their writing. I couldn’t be happier for them, they deserve all of the accolades coming their way,’ said Angela Kingston, Artist in Residence.

LAUNCH DETAILS:

Friday, 28 November

6pm – 8pm

SA Writers Centre, Level 2, 187 Rundle St, Adelaide

Come and hear them perform their work and see their live writing projected onto the walls of the SA Writers Centre.

‘Language can be play, writing can be joyful, and students themselves can be the inventors and caretakers of their world,’ Michael Chabon

This project is funded through the Australia Council’s Creative Education Partnerships – Artists in Residence Initiative, which operates in partnership with Arts SA and Department of Education and Child Development.